Hello, I’m Lewis Rapkin—an 8-time Emmy-nominated director, editor, and producer focused on authentic, character-driven stories that illuminate broader social, cultural, and political forces.
I recently produced the hybrid documentary Four Down, executive produced by Snoop Dogg and Mark Wahlberg, blending large-scale Hollywood action filmmaking with intimate documentary storytelling. My work has screened at major festivals including Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca, where I won the Nespresso Talents U.S. Grand Prize for directing VIVIR.
My directorial debut, Live From Tokyo, exploring the city’s underground music scene, was described by one journalist as a “Koyaanisqatsi for an internet generation.”
As an editor, I’ve worked on films about leading artists and cultural figures, including the Emmy and Peabody Award–winning Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present (HBO), Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace (PBS), Twyla Tharp Moves (PBS), Citizen Ashe (CNN/HBO) and Rem Koolhaas: Countryside, The Future (Guggenheim Museum). I’ve also held senior creative roles across series and features for HBO, Paramount+, Vox, and PBS, including supervising editor on Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi, produced by longtime collaborator Sheila Nevins.
I was part of the founding team at VICE News, where I helped define the editorial and creative DNA of the organization, developing its visual language, field workflows, and approach to fast-turnaround international coverage.
Music is central to my storytelling practice, and I often compose original scores for my projects, including Automatic On The Road, created with Dolby Laboratories as one of the first documentary scores conceived in the spatial audio technology.
Across my work, I aim to merge rigorous editorial craft with inventive visual and musical approaches, creating films that linger, inform, and resonate.